Patriots' Wilfork respects Flacco

Pictures of the Ravens game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17.

Edward Lee

Judging by free safety Ed Reed’s comments to SiriusXM satellite radio on Monday, Joe Flacco may have yet to win over some of his teammates. But that’s not the case with Vince Wilfork.

The New England Patriots nose tackle said Thursday during a national conference call that he respects the Ravens quarterback, who has been the subject of much debate this week after he threw for less than 200 yards and was sacked five times in Sunday's 20-13 victory over the Houston Texans in Sunday’s AFC divisional round.

"Anytime you can get to a quarterback, it's always a positive thing for that defense," Wilfork said. "But it's tough with that guy because like I said, he can get hit and bounce right up, and it doesn't faze him. So we just have to stick to our game plan for 60 minutes – or whatever that may be – to play good football because I'm pretty sure they want to play good football. So it's going to be two teams out for one goal, and that's to win. So the better you can prepare, the better you'll be on gameday."